Dispensing container with collapsible compartment



March 18, 1969 J. A. KRIZKA ET AL 3,433,391

DISPENSING CONTAINER WITH COL LAPSIBLE COMPARTMENT' Filed March 7, 1966 INVENTORS JERRY A. KRIZKA 8: JAMES F. FOX

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TTORNEYS United States Patent 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dispensing container having a collapsible bag of molded plastic material and defining with a body of the container a product compartment and a propellant compartment. A plurality of circumferential beads form a body of the bag and include first means for rigidifying the bag and second means radially outwardly of the first means for controllably regulating the folding of the bag under the influence of a propellant. The first and second means are wall portions defining the beads, and the wall portions of the first means progressively taper in wall thickness and distend toward the Wall portion of the second means.

This invention relates to a novel dispensing container, and is particularly directed to a novel dispensing container of the type including a collapsible product-containing compartment, the collapsible compartment being formed from an integral piece of resilient or flexible material and including means for rigidifying the compartment against forces imposed radially against the compart ment by a propellant Within the container, and additional means for a controllably regulating the collapsing of the compartment under the influence of propellant forces imposed axially upon the compartment during a dispensing operation.

This invention relates to aerosol-type containers which include a product-containing compartment and a propellant compartment which are generally separated by a common wall. In some cases, the common wall of such dispensing containers is defined by a collapsible bag positioned internally of a container body and secured to a top closure of the latter. The top closure generally includes a manually operable valve-actuated dispensing mechanism for dispensing a product packaged within the bag under the influence of a pressurized propellant housed between the bag and the container body.

In such conventional dispensing containers, the side wall of the product-containing bag tends to collapse inwardly due to the forces imposed thereon by the propellant during a dispensing operation. This collapsing or paneling" generally takes place near the center or top of the product-containing bag, depending upon the viscosity of the particular product packaged within the bag. This paneling of the side wall results in one or more restrictions, which ultimately block a conventional valve orifice of the valve-actuated dispensing mechanism and make it diflicult, if not impossible, to remove all of the product from the lower portion of the product-containing bag.

This same indiscriminate, unregulated collapsing or paneling of conventional inner compartment walls tends to entrap portions of the packaged product with the result that optimum product dispensing quantitywise is not achieved even though the valve orifice of the dispensing mechanism may not be blocked.

In keeping with the above, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel dispensing container which substantially eliminates the above and other disadvantages in dispensing containers by providing a novel dispensing container provided with a collapsible compartment or bag which includes means for rigidifying the bag and maintaining the predetermined configuration thereof against forces radially imposed upon the bag by a propellant, and additionally including means for controllably regulating the folding or collapsing of the bag by forces imposed axially upon the bag by the propellant whereby an optimum quantity of a dispensable product packaged within the bag is dispensed through a valve-actuated dispensing mechanism of the container in the absence of the blockage of the dispensing mechanism.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel dispensing container of the type heretofore described in which the means for rigidifying and controllably regulating the folding of the bag are a plurality of axially disposed circumferentially extending alternating annular wall portions, the annular wall portions defining the rigidifying means being located wholly within an axially projected volume of the annular wall portions defining the regulating means, and the annular wall portions of the rigidifying means being of a greater wall thickness than the thickness of the annular wall potrions defining the regulatlIlg means.

With the above, and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dispensing container with parts broken away for clarity, and illustrates a collapsible bag or compartment housed internally of a container body prior to a dispensing operation.

FIGURE 2 is a highly enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the encircled portion of the dispensing container of FIGURE 1, and illustrates the cross-sectional configuration of annular beads of the collapsible bag prior to the performance of a dispensing operation.

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the dispensing container of FIGURE 1 with parts broken away for clarity and illustrates a partially collapsed position of the bag.

FIGURE 4 is a highly enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the encircled portion of the dispensing container of FIGURE 3, and more clearly illustrates the partially collapsed position of the annular beads in solid lines and the fully collapsed position of the beads in phantom outline.

A novel dispensing container constructed in accordance with this invention is generally referred to b the reference numeral 5 and comprises a container body 6 and an inner collapsible bag or compartment 7.

The container body 6 of the dispensing container 5 includes axially opposite top and bottom ends (unnumbered) closed by respective top and bottoms closures 8, 10. Conventional double seams 11, 12 secure the respective closures 8, 10 to the container body 6. A conventional manually actuated valve-control dispensing mechanism 13 is carried by a fitment or cap 14 secured by a curl 15 to a curl 16 of the top closure 8. Means (not shown), such as a rubber grommet, may be housed in the bottom closure 10 for introducing a propellant into a propellant chamber 17 between the container body 6 and the collapsible bag 7.

The collapsible bag 7 includes a bottom wall or panel 20 adjacent the bottom closure 10, a body wall 21 and an open upper end portion 22. The upper end portion 22 is fastened between the curls 15, 16. A dispensable product P is packaged in the collapsible bag 7 prior to the attachment of the fitment 14 to the top closure 8 after which the pressurized propellant is introduced into the propellant chamber 17 by, for example, inserting a needle through the heretofore noted grommet (not shown).

The collapsible bag 7 is provided with a plurality of axially disposed circumferentially extending first means, generally referred to by the reference numeral 25 (FIG- URE 2), for rigidifying the bag 7 and maintaining the predetermined configuration thereof against forces imposed radially against the body wall 21 by the propellant in the chamber 17. A plurality of axially disposed circumferentially extending second means, generally referred to by the reference numeral 26 (FIGURE 2), are provided for controllably regulating the folding or collapsing of the bag 7 under the influence of the propellant acting axially upwardly upon the bottom panel of the bag 7. The rigiditying means 25 and the regulating means 26 are in alternate relationship, and the rigidifying means are located wholly within an imaginary axially projecting volume of the regulating means 26.

The rigidifying means 25 are identical and each includes a generally annular wall portion 27 opening concavely outwardly toward the container body 6. Each annular wall portion 27 is substantially V-shaped or U shaped in transverse cross-section and has a maximum wall thickness T1 at a bight portions (unnumbered) thereof. Due to the appreciable thickness T1 of each of the annular wall portions 27 the annular wall portions 27 act as a plurality of axially spaced, circumferentially extend ing reinforcing bands which resist radially inwardly directed forces F (FIGURE 2) imposed upon the body wall 21 of the collapsible bag 7 by the propellant in the compartment 17. The annular wall portions or reinforcing bands thereby maintain the generally tubular cylindrical configuration of the body wall 21 and prevent the body wall 21 from paneling or collapsing inwardly under the influence of the propellant forces F.

Each of the means 26 for controllably regulating the collapsing of the bag 7 is identical and includes an annular wall portion 28 opening concavely inwardly toward the axis of the container body 6. Each of the annular wall portions 28 is of a generally U-shaped or V-shaped transverse cross-sectional configuration and has a minimum thickness T2 (FIGURE 2) at a bight portion (unnumbered) thereof. The wall thickness T2 of each of the annular wall portions 28 is materially less than the wall thickness T1 of each of the annular wall portions 27, as is readily apparent from FIGURE 2 of the drawing. Due to the thinner wall construction of the annular wall portions 28, the annular wall portions 28 define annular or circumferential weakening or folding bands which permit the body wall 21 of the collapsible bag 7 to fold or collapse uniformly under the influence of forces imposed axially upwardly against the bottom panel 20 by the propellant in the chamber 17, as is best illustrated in FIG- URE 4 of the drawing.

Referring in particular to FIGURE 2 of the drawing, axially adjacent ones of the annular wall portions 27 are joined to an associated one of the annular wall portions 26 by circumferentially extending wall portions 30, 31 which converge toward each other away from the container body axis. The wall portions 30, 31 also progressively decrease in wall thickness from the annular wall portions 27 to an associated one of each of the annular wall portions 28. The strength of the collapsible bag 7 is therefore greatest at points nearest the axis of the bag 7 with the strength progressively and uniformly lessening through areas of minimum strength at the bight portions (unnumbered) of the annular wall portions 28. This construction of the collapsible bag 7 effects maximum collapsing or folding at the annular wall portions 28 and causes the product between the wall portions 30, 31 t o be progressively squeezed radially inwardly during the upward movement of the bottom panel 20 and the collapsing of the body wall 21 until adjacent ones of the walls 30, 31 are in substantially parallel relation, as is illustrated in phantom Outline in FIGURE 4 of the drawing.

The collapsible bag 7 is preferably constructed from either flexible or resilient material which will readily collapse in the manner heretofore described and illustrated. The collapsible bag 7 is however, preferably constructed from plastic material, such as polyethylene, by a blowmolding operation. In accordance with conventional blow-molding techniques, a tubular parison of plastic material is extruded between the mold halves of a split mold having opposed cavities contoured to the external configuration of the bag 7 in the noncollapsed form illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawing. The mold halves are closed and the parison is pinched closed at axially opposite end portions thereof after which pressurized air is introduced into the interior of the parison causing the latter to conform to the configuration of the mold cavities. As the parison is blown to the configuration of the mold cavities, the wall thickness thereof progressively decreases as the diameter of the parison increases from the extruded diameter. Thus, the annular wall portions 27 are reduced the least in thickness as compared to the thickness of the wall of the extruded parison, the annular wall portions 30, 31 also progressively thin as the diameter increases and the annular wall portions 28 become thinned the most, due to the maximum diameters thereof.

While the collapsible bag or compartment 7 is preferably constructed from plastic material, the bag 7 may be constructed from relatively ductile metallic material by drawing a planar blank to a generally cup-shaped configuration, inserting the cup-shaped element into a suitable split mold and introducing pressure by hydraulic or other means to conform the same to the contours of the split mold with the resulting stretch of the metal producing a bag whose wall thickness varies in accordance with that heretofore described.

It is also within the scope of this invention to construct the annular wall portions 27, 28 of varying shapes, sizes, etc. depending upon, for example, a particular product P packaged within the collapsible bag 7. For example, while the annular wall portions 27 are of a generally V- shaped configuration with curved bight portions, it is within the scope of this invention to form the annular wall portions 27 of a substantially perfect U-shaped configuration with bight portions thereof defining right circular cylinders.

The collapsible bag 7 is preferably clamped between the curls 15, 16, as was heretofore noted. However, the upper end portion 22 of the bag 7 or the collapsible metallic bag (not shown) may also be clamped between the portion of the double seam 11 (not shown).

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provisions have been made for carrying out the desired end. However, attention is again directed to the fact that additional variations may be made in this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A dispensing container comprising a container body, top and bottom closures at axially opposite ends of said body, a valve-actuator dispensing mechanism carried by said top closure, a collapsible bag in the interior of said container body and defining therewith a product compartment and a propellant compartment, a dispensible product and a propellant adapted to be housed in the respective product and propellant compartments, said bag being of an integral one-piece molded plastic construction and of a generally tubular cylindrical configuration, a plurality of axially disposed circumferentially extending first means for rigidifying said bag and maintaining the generally cylindrical configuration thereof against forces radially imposed upon said bag by said propellant, a plurality of axially disposed circumferentially extending second means disposed radially outwardly of said first means for controllably regulating the folding of said bag caused by forces axially imposed upon said bag by said propellant, said first means being disposed solely radially inwardly of said second means and wholly within an axially projected volume of said last-mentioned means, said first and second means being circumferentially disposed radius Wall portions of said bag, each radius portion of said first means being joined to a pair of the radius portions of the second means by annular Walls converging radially inwardly, and each annular wall progressively convergingly tapering in wall thickness and thinning in a direction from the radius portions of the first means toward the radius portions of the second means.

2. A collapsible bag of the type adapted for use in a dispensing container to define therewith a propellant compartment and a product compartment from the latter of which may be dispensed a dispensible product upon the axial collapsing of the bag under the influence of a propellant, said bag comprising a body of an integral onepiece blow-molded synthetic polymeric construction, a plurality of axially disposed circumferentially extending first means for rigidifying said bag and maintaining the generally cylindrical configuration thereof against forces adapted to be radially imposed thereon by a propellant, a plurality of axially disposed circumferentially extending second means disposed radially outwardly of said first means for controllably regulating the folding of the bag caused by forces adapted to be axially imposed upon the bag by a propellant, the first means being disposed solely radially inwardly of the second means and wholly Within an axially projected volume of the last-mentioned means, said first and second means being circumferentially disposed radius wall portions of said bag, each radius portion of said first means being joined to a pair of the radius portions of the second means by annular walls converging radially inwardly, and each annular wall progressively convergingly tapering in wall thickness and thinning in a direction from the radius portions of the first means toward the radius portions of the second means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 762,299 6/ 1904 Fulton 222-206 1,854,458 4/1932 De Quincey et -al. 222-215 2,836,963 6/1958 Fox 222386.5 X 2,899,110 8/1958 Parker 222215 3,169,670 2/ 1965 Hredenak et al 222 3,235,135 2/1966 Robert et al. 222215 X 3,275,200 9/1966 Livingstone 222389 3,285,473 11/1966 Fuhrmann 222-386.5 X

WALTER SOBIN, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

